Former US President Donald Trump plans to appear in Georgia on Thursday in connection with his indictment and face a trial in Atlanta, he said on social media Monday.
“I will be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday to be arrested,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. He described the charges as a politically motivated attempt to derail his re-election campaign.
CNN previously reported that Trump plans to surrender Thursday at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia. The date was set during Monday's negotiations between Trump's attorneys and the Fulton County District Attorney's Office over Trump's consent guarantee and release terms, CNN reported.
In a 98-page indictment against Georgia released last week, Trump and 18 other defendants were charged with a total of 41 felonies in connection with an alleged attempt to redeem the former president's defeat in the state's 2020 election.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said in a press release Monday afternoon that if Trump surrenders, there will be a “hard lockdown” around the main county jail.
It is forbidden to intimidate co-defendants, witnesses or victims
According to the papers, Trump faces a $200,000 US bond and is also barred from intimidating any co-defendant, witness or victim in the case — including on social media — according to District Attorney Fani Willis Fulton County, signed bond agreement. Trump's defense attorney and the judge. This expressly includes “posts on social media or reposts of posts” created by others.
Trump has repeatedly used social media to attack those involved in the criminal proceedings against him during his campaign to retake the White House in 2024.
He railed against Willis before he was charged, and he named Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp — a Republican who had rebuffed his efforts to overthrow the election — in a social media post Monday morning.
US authorities are investigating threats related to the indictment of Donald Trump in Georgia. Officials, the prosecutor and now the grand jury have all been targeted.
The agreement prohibits the former president from making “direct or indirect threats of any kind” against witnesses or co-defendants and from communicating with them about the facts in any way, except through lawyers.
The order sets Trump's bail for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charge at $80,000 and adds $10,000 for each of the 12 other charges he faces. Bail is the amount that defendants are required to pay as security to ensure they appear in court before the trial.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and his co-defendants were indicted on Aug. 14. Willis gave them until noon Friday ET to surrender or face an arrest.
Former US President Donald Trump is facing his fourth and most serious indictment in Georgia – a state where cameras are allowed and even encouraged in courtrooms. Andrew Chang explains the possibility of Trump's trial being televised for the whole world to see.
Prosecutors handling the case have suggested the trial should begin on March 4, 2024, while Trump's attorneys have called for a trial in 2026.
Trump's capitulation on Thursday will come a day after the first Republican presidential debate in the primary, which the former president declined to attend.
